Rain Doesn't Dampen Excitement as Residents Celebrate Opening of Alhambra Hills to Public

The public can now hike 297 acres of open space south of Highway 4 thanks to work of citizen volunteers, approval of Measure F in 2022

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By Sam Richards

MARTINEZ — Satinder Malhi said he grew up not far from what later came to be called the Alhambra Highlands, and found himself there Saturday, a few feet from a new double gate between that land and the Bethany Baptist Church parking lot..

“I may or may not have gone up that hill as a teenager, but now I can do it legally!” said Malhi, now a Martinez City Councilman, to about 65 people who turned out in a light but steady rain Saturday morning for the formal opening of the Alhambra Hills Open Space, 297 acres of grassland (and grazing land) south of state Highway 4, between Alhambra Avenue and Alhambra Valley Road. Some of this land was once owned by famed conservationist John Muir, whose landmark home stands about a mile to the north.

Now, anyone can hike on this land legally, thanks mostly to the efforts of a host of citizen volunteers whose work to save this parcel dates back some three decades. Only a few brave souls hiked on Saturday, though, as rain and, more pointedly, deep, sticky mud made the going very slow.

Fourteen years ago, it seemed this acreage would become a housing development. In July 2011, the Martinez City Council approved a 109-unit housing project, Alhambra Highlands, to have been built by Texas-based Richfield Investment Corp. on about a quarter of that land.

But that project languished for several reasons, and momentum built slowly to preserve the land as open space. But no one stepped up to buy this land from Richfield until after Measure F, which established a 30-year special tax, to acquire the 297 acres from Richfield, was approved by local voters in 2022 by a slim margin (two-thirds approval needed). With financing secured, it was the city that stepped up, reaching an agreement to buy the 297 acres from Richfield for a reported $20 million. A management plan for the land was then developed, and while hikers were not simply allowed to go onto the land, a handful of docent-led hikes took place in 2023.

Robert Hanna, John Muir’s great-great grandson, speaks while Jamie Fox holds a bust of Muir. Photo by Sam Richards